SALISBURY, Md. - The TCNJ field hockey team was on the road to take on Salisbury Saturday afternoon, dropping a 4-2 decision to the seventh-ranked Sea Gulls in their regular-season finale.
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Salisbury (13-3) appeared to score the game's opening goal just 2:56 into Saturday's match, but a defensive save and foul drawn by
Rachael Tetzlaff overturned the initial goal call and kept the Gulls off the board. The hosts piled on three more corners over the ensuing six minutes – all of which were turned aside by
Brigitte Racey – before it was the Lions (11-5) converting on their first corner of the day to take a 1-0 lead against the run of play.
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Prisha Dhruve's insert found
Jadyn Huff, who carried the ball back into the circle before dishing it off to
Avery Gower. The freshman fired a shot that bounced off the post, but there for the backhanded rebound was
Lindsey Hoffman to put TCNJ in front.
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Salisbury found an equalizer before the first quarter could end and looked poised to take the lead in the second, but five saves from Racey kept the game level at one at the break.
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The Gulls' constant pressure finally paid off in the third to the tune of three unanswered goals that put the hosts up 4-1 before
Allie Baker stole one back at the 54:54 mark on a deflection off a Huff shot. The Lions earned one final corner with under a minute to go with the hopes of trimming the deficit further, but could not get a shot off before the final buzzer sounded to hand TCNJ the 4-2 loss in their final regular season game.
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INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Salisbury held the edge in both shots (25-13) and shots on goal (17-7)
- The Gulls drew 12 penalty corners to the Lions' seven.
- Hoffman and Nika Eschmann shared the team-lead in shots on goal at two apiece.
- Gower, Avery Vacca and Tetzlaff all registered defensive saves.
NOTES
- Hoffman's goal is her third of the season while Baker's is her second.
- Racey made 10 saves on the afternoon, her most since TCNJ faced Hopkins last month.
UP NEXT
- The Lions locked up the two seed in the NJAC Tournament earlier this week, meaning they will host Stockton in the semifinals Wednesday, Nov. 6. First pass is set for 2 p.m.
